Research project
The TaxCapDev network
Events
Domestic revenue mobilisation (DRM) is crucial for a government’s ability to make investments that foster social and economic development and is an integral part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Taxation also plays a crucial role in state building by providing the resources needed to fund core state activities as well as constituting the foundation of a social contract between citizens and the state.
How to improve taxation and prevent illicit capital flows are questions of great importance as the answers can shape the policies needed to spur sustainable growth. If this is to happen, knowledge sharing, discussions, and interactions between different types of stakeholders are needed.
The purpose of the TaxCapDev network is to facilitate such interaction by bringing together researchers, policymakers and civil society working on issues related to taxation and capital flows in developing countries, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.
Through the organisation of seminars, pod-casts and publishing condensed and accessible research briefs and blog posts, the network aims to facilitate discussions and exchange of experiences, with the goal of creating and sharing knowledge to strengthen DRM in developing countries and contribute to the shaping of new international research agendas.
The TaxCapDev project also cooperates with the STEAL and FOLLOW projects at NUPI.
Coordinating institutions and leadership
Recent publications
Fjeldstad & Therkildsen (2020) Implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for revenue generation in poor African countries. DIIS Working Paper - Implications of the Covid-19 pandemic - Pdf.
The pandemic talks
The pandemic talks are the TaxCapDev-network's film series about the financial and tax consequences of COVID-19. Her you meet researchers from Norway and Africa.
Episode 1: Kenya
Episode 2: Nigeria
Episode 3: Senegal
The Norwegian magazine Bistandsaktuelt, covering aid and international development, wrote about The pandemic talks in january 2021: Read the Norwegian article here.
Contact information:
Research assistant for the SkattJakt/TaxCapDev network is Viljar Haavik.
Participants
External
Sigrid Klæboe Jacobsen, Tax Justice Norway
Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, Chr. Michelsen Institute
New publications
Building tax systems in fragile states. Challenges, achievements and policy recommendations
This report systematises and analyses existing knowledge on taxation in fragile states. Efforts to support domestic revenue mobilisation in conflict situations require a different approach and other means than in the more stable developing countries. On that basis, the study discusses possible entry points for Norwegian support to domestic revenue mobilisation in ways that may contribute to strengthen state-building and improve government legitimacy. Complexity, limited experience and security concerns suggest that one should be cautious to adopt bilateral technical assistance programmes of the kind implemented in other developing countries. Instead, the study argues in favour of engagement via multilateral institutions, including multi-donor trust funds and other forms of pooled resources. The report recommends nine entry points for Norwegian support to taxation in fragile states: 1. Do no harm 2. Safeguard donor coordination, but ensure a certain humility 3. Support customs administration 4. Capacitate management and taxation of natural resources 5. Support the United Nations Tax Committee 6. Improve taxpayer-tax administration relations 7. Remember the sub-national tax system 8. Support civil based organisations 9. Develop research capacity
The Politics of Conflict Economies: Miners, Merchants and Warriors in the African Borderland
Global wealth chains in the international political economy
This work is funded by the ‘Systems of Tax Evasion and Laundering: Locating Global Wealth Chains in the International Political Economy’(STEAL 2012-15) project funded by the TaxCapDev program under the Research Council of Norway (#212210/H30), and based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
Events
Participants
External
Sigrid Klæboe Jacobsen, Tax Justice Norway
Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, Chr. Michelsen Institute